It's 1:30 And Sheila Jackson Lee & Al Green Are Already Sitting In Their Seats For The State Of The Union, And You Can't Budge Them

It's become a tradition for camera-hungry congresspeople to park their butts in aisle seats hours before the State of the Union speech to ensure they get a moment with the President as he leaves the chamber after the speech.

It's about 2:30 Eastern time as we write this, and Houston congressmembers Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green are proudly keeping the tradition going.

NBC reports at least four members of Congress are claiming seats in the House chamber already for the speech, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern.

That's a lot of sitting.

Jackson Lee has long mastered the method of getting SOTU face time with whatever president is walking out; as other members noticed, they have been claiming seats too, forcing the ritual to start earlier each year.

You can't save a seat by throwing a jacket on it or pasting a Post-It note; members are informed in writing that saving a seat requires a congressional butt to be in it.

And thus the butts of Jackson Lee and Green are planted, ready for a long, long wait, like tech nerds when a new smartphone comes out or homemade Jedi knights waiting for a new Star Wars episode.